1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a portable device, particularly to a portable device with an automatic power off protection circuitry as well as a method of achieving such automatic power off protection on the portable device.
2. Related Art
Portable devices, such as mobile phones and media players, are becoming smaller in size while being packed with more functions. This leads to manufacturers, of the portable devices, having to densely packed integrated circuits in close proximity to each other. As such, a need exist to protect these integrated circuits since electrical circuits in close proximity to each other are easily damaged or may exhibit erroneous behavior when subjected to adverse conditions. Indeed, when a portable device drops, not only are they superficial damages to the portable device but the underlying electrical circuits of the portable device may also be damaged.
The US patent publication US20040252397 ('397), entitled “A Media Player With Acceleration Protection”, published on Dec. 12, 2004, discloses a hard drive protective technology and the method thereof. The '397 patent discloses that: By monitoring the acceleration, i.e., sudden or abrupt changes in position, of the media player, the media player can “alter an operation” of the hard drive when this acceleration exceeds a critical acceleration value. Thus, if the media player experiences a sudden acceleration, such as being accidentally dropped, the media player “parks” the hard drive and damages and/or data loss can be reduced if or when the media player collides with the ground.
However, the above invention is only applicable to devices with hard drives. For portable devices without hard drivers the need to protect critical circuitry during collision with other objects is also a concern. However, portable devices are subjected to less damage in a power off state than in a power on state.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a portable device, with or without hard drives, with a power off protection circuitry when the portable device experiences a sudden change in position. The power off protection circuitry of the portable device should be capable of automatically shutting down the portable device when the portable device experiences a sudden acceleration that is greater than a critical acceleration.